I know the old adage, “A win is a win” but somehow Saturday’s win over Florida Atlantic didn’t seem like a win. Instead of coming out and dominating a clearly overmatched opponent, it seems the young Auburn team played down to the level of their competition. If not for a few key turnovers by the Owls, this game might have gone down to the final minutes.

Florida Atlantic was not a typical cupcake team. They were the cupcake of cupcakes. In their previous game against Michigan State, Florida Atlantic had managed a total of one first down and 48 yards of total offense for the entire game. Against Auburn they had 20 first downs and 307 total yards of offense.

There were drives the Owls were knocking off 9-10 yards per play. They made several first downs when Auburn had them in 3rd and long situations. If you can’t stop a weak offense like Florida Atlantic’s, how do you think you’re going to stop South Carolina? Marcus Lattimore may break the NCAA records for carries and yardage in a game against this Auburn defense.

Even the Gus Malzahn engineered offense failed to perform. It looked more like a Tony Franklin offense from Coach Tuberville’s final season. I know Auburn sat a good many key players out to rest them for South Carolina, but even the backups should be better prepared than this offense was Saturday night.

There are still some areas that need work if this offense is going to excel. The biggest thing is catching the football. In this offense, the flare pass and screens are supposed to be big play opportunities that open up the rest of the game. Far too many times this simplest of passes isn’t completed. Pass, catch and run. It sounds so simple until you get players who can’t catch. If you can’t make the defense respect this facet of your offense, you’re sunk.

Another thing that needs considerable work is teaching the offensive players how to block for one another. Just as a defense works best as a unit, instead of eleven individuals, so does the offense. If the ball isn’t coming to you, your assignment is to block someone. Far too many times this season, a play that was setup beautifully failed because someone didn’t make the one block needed to free the runner or receiver.

On defense, you can’t keep ceding the sideline passes and screens. You’ve got to play this receiver tighter and force the QB to throw over you. If you make him throw deeper, there’s a greater chance for a mistake or a turnover.

If you have the play covered and it’s completed anyway, you have got to stop the play from becoming a big play. There have been many times this season when the play was stopped in the backfield, but ended up being a big play because one or two players failed to tackle. There’s a lot of things to learn when making the transition from high school to college, but basic tackling techniques shouldn’t be one of those things.

I know this is a young team, and they’re only going to get better, but it seems they took a step backwards from the first three games to this one. After four games, they’re still making many of the same mistakes. Facing possibly the toughest October ever faced by an Auburn team, with games at South Carolina, at Arkansas, at home against Florida, at LSU and a home game with Ole Miss, these mistakes have got to be overcome or Auburn’s hopes of a winning season may be gone before the leaves are off the trees.

For most of the past thirty years, Auburn has been a major player in the SEC. One has to wonder with the great recruiting classes Gene Chizik and staff have brought to Auburn, how have they fallen so hard and so fast.

Looking at the previous three years of recruiting under former coach Tommy Tuberville helps to answer the question.

Each of these three classes were full of signed players that never qualified, were dismissed from the team, never met academic standards or essentially never contributed much on the field. Nowhere was this more apparent than on the defensive side of the ball.

Make no mistake, there was enough talent for the current staff to assemble a national champion, with help from some key recruits from the Gene Chizik era, but there was little depth behind that Auburn starting lineup in 2010.

Perhaps the worst recruiting class of the bunch was the 2008 class. As bad as Tuberville’s 2008 team played on the field, his 2008 recruiting class was equally as bad. This class should be providing upperclassmen leadership during the 2011 season, but for reasons cited above, the holes are large. Making matters more difficult is the fact that Gene Chizik had less than a month to assemble his 2009 class.

Here’s an in-depth look at that 2008 class, and why Auburn is such a young team this year. Star ratings are provided from Rivals.com. Read more…

Auburn’s 17-game winning streak didn’t end with a bang, even though the game was filled with offensive fireworks. It ended with Clemson mercifully taking a knee deep in Auburn territory. This game was eerily similar to the 2010 Outback Bowl against Northwestern, and the 2010 Arkansas game.

In each of those games, the Auburn defense was as equally inept as in the Clemson game. The difference in those two games and Saturday’s game, other than both of them being Auburn wins, was the defense made some key defensive stops and helped themselves with turnovers converted into scores. There were no such plays against Clemson.

I’m not going to start pointing fingers at any particular coach, but even Ray Charles could see this Auburn defense has played terrible through the first three games. You’re not going to win many games when your defense is giving up over 36 points a game, regardless of how good your offense is.

Though Auburn has a stellar record since Coach Chizik returned to the Plains, the defense has not been good in either season. A championship caliber program has great recruiting AND great coaching on both sides of the ball. The 2010 championship team overcame the play of it’s defense with a great offense. That’s a luxury this Auburn team does not have.

Auburn actually had control of the game early with a 14-0 lead, and had the Clemson defense on it’s heels, but a key punt return mistake swung field position and momentum. Trovon Reed fielded a punt inside his own goalline and attempted a return. He was stopped at the 4-yardline. After punting the ball, and giving Clemson a short field to work with, Clemson responed with a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-7.

This mistake may have allowed Clemson to grab the momentum and get back in the game, but anyone watching the game would realize the outcome would have been the same. Though Auburn’s offense also failed to make some plays they’re going to have to make later on in the season, they’re light years ahead of the defense. When you set up flare passes and screens that are designed to get good yardage, you have got to catch the ball.

I haven’t lost faith in this Auburn team. I still believe they’ll be bowl eligible at the end of the season. I know there are probably going to be more games like Clemson, but I also believe that there are going to be times where Auburn wins games they’re not supposed to win. Auburn still has a lot of talent on both sides of the football, and with maturity and better preparation, I see bright times ahead for this program.

For video highlights of the Auburn-Clemson game, click here.

Auburn’s young team is 2-0 on the season, but they have played both games in the friendly confines of Jordan-Hare Stadium. Regardless of what you may think about the better team always rising to the top to win close games, having a large crowd on your side can often make a difference in winning or losing these games. Auburn has won two nail-biters on their home turf, but this week they’re venturing out into enemy territory. The crowd that has cheered them to victory in the first two contests, will be cheering for the other team this week.

One thing a veteran team can call on in a hostile environment is the experience of having been there before and overcoming the crowd. That’s a luxury this Auburn team does not have yet. Perhaps this will the first road win they can call on later in the season, when the cards are on the table and the crowd is against them. With a daunting schedule staring them in the face in October, this game would seem to be a must win. If they win this game, beat Florida Atlantic next week and can steal a win or two in October, this could be a very successful season, especially considering the low expectations heading into the season. Read more…

First off, let me congratulate the Utah State Aggies, for their near upset of Auburn and the great game that they played. After losing on the road to Texas A&M 38-30 in 2009, and on the road at Oklahoma 31-24 in 2010, should we really be shocked that they almost took Auburn to the woodshed? Well, yes. Auburn is a much quicker team and with a lot more talent. For all of the talk about proving people wrong when rating them so low, they almost proved these people right with their play in this game. As for Utah State, if I’m scheduling a non-conference home opener in the future, Utah State is not a team I want to play.

Though this was an overall disappointing debut for this Auburn team, if a win can ever be described as disappointing, there were many bright spots. Auburn proved the receiving corps will be a strength for Auburn this season. Emory Blake, Travante Stallworth and Philip Lutzenkirchen proved they can move the chains, score and win games for Auburn. Auburn tried several times to get Trovon Reed involved in the offense, but the Aggie defense was swarming him every time he touched the football.

Another pleasant surprise is the leg of Cody Parkey. He was consistently sending his kickoffs through the endzone. If you can take away another team’s kick return game, you’re one step ahead of the game. He managed to do that yesterday on the majority of his kicks.

True freshmen Quan Bray and Tre Mason were impressive in their kick return game debuts. Though Mason stole the headlines with his 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and a 44 yard average, Bray averaged 27 yards, and Onterio McCalebb’s lone return went for 25. Either one of these three kick returners are capable of taking it to the house. The kicking game should be a huge plus for Auburn in most of the games they play this season.

Though he didn’t have gaudy numbers at quarterback, Barrett Trotter showed why he was chosen to lead this team. He led two touchdown drives in the last three and a half minutes of the game, got the ball to the playmakers and didn’t make any of the mistakes that cost you ball games. Even one turnover in this game could have been the difference between celebrating a victory, and trying to rebound from a loss. Even though they looked sluggish for most of the game, this team scored 42 points.

Auburn also made one thing apparent to those paying close attention. True freshman Kiehl Frazier will not be redshirted in 2011. They brought him and Clint Moseley in for one play in the third quarter. By using him on this one play, it’s apparent the decision had already been made not to redshirt him. I would fully expect Coach Malzahn to find more and more ways to incorporate him into the offense as the season progresses. In my opinion, this was a no-brainer. You can’t risk going through an entire SEC schedule with only two quarterbacks. It’s better to go ahead and bring him into the system early in the season, instead of possibly having to throw him into the fire late in the season.

That’s the good. Now for the bad.

Auburn appeared lost on defense on many occasions throughout the game. Utah State scored one of their short yardage touchdowns while Auburn’s defense was still adjusting. One has to wonder if this had anything to do with Eltoro Freeman’s one game suspension. He had practiced as a starter the entire Fall, and up until Friday night, when he was told he wouldn’t be able to play. With or without Freeman, the Aggies took it to the heart of the Auburn defense many times, and almost always came out with positive yardage. Auburn has got to shore up the defensive line before Saturday’s game with Mississippi State.

Though they gave up some big plays in the passing game, I was impressed with the young secondary. A lot of the passing success was with the short screens that Auburn was pretty much ceding them throughout the game, and a great performance by Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keeton. Keeton didn’t play like a true freshman, and I think along with their veteran offensive line and strong running game, Utah State will score a lot of points in 2011.

I said it last year, and it bears repeating this year – close games like this build character. What this team takes from this comeback win, and what they can learn from all of their mistakes will tell how successful this team can be this year. I’m not going to pretend to have all the answers after just one game. I’m sure that as I sit here critiquing the game, the Auburn coaches are breaking down game film, play by play. Auburn showed flashes of brilliance at times in this game, but to win in this league, you need to show that on every play.

If history is a lesson, I would expect to see a far better effort in Auburn’s next game. After giving up 26 points to Arkansas State in their home opener in 2010, the Tigers held Mississippi State to 14 points in Starkville the following week. Will this team also rise to the occasion? Will we see that much improvement from this team from week one to week two? Only time will tell. This much I can say. Harry Houdini would be proud of the improbable escape Auburn pulled this week.

The time is finally here. The feel of Fall is heavy in the morning air. Auburn football will be here in full force this weekend. All of the echoes of last season’s BCS Championship will be nothing but a memory as a new team takes the field. Expectations for this team are low in most corners, but not from this writer. I not only expect a winner from this team but a contender.

Auburn is a heavy favorite tomorrow in their home opener against Utah State, but sometimes thinking of an opponent as a rent-a-win can get you in a lot of trouble . How many of us will soon forget Appalachian State going to the Big House to be opening day fodder for Michigan in 2007, only to leave 100,000+ fans sitting stunned as Appalachian State walked away with a 34-32 victory? What many Auburn fans have forgotten is that Appalachian State almost pulled this same shocker in 1999… on the Plains of Auburn. Tommy Tuberville’s first game as the Tigers head coach was almost a disaster, as Auburn survived a nailbiter, 22-15.

If nothing else, I hope that history can be used as a lesson here, and that Coach Chizik has his team prepared for a real test. I have seen many predictions for this game, and most have Auburn winning by 2-3 touchdowns, or even more. If you look merely at the stats from last year, you can make a pretty good case for this game being a mismatch. However, you can never measure the heart in an opponent. This same Utah State team opened the season on the road in Norman, Oklahoma last year and played their best game of the season, eventually succumbing to the Sooners, 31-24.

The youth and inexperience of this Auburn team has been written about so much, it’s almost legendary; so, I won’t bother you with the same tired numbers of freshmen and sophomores starting on this team, or in the two deep rotation. Suffice it to say that Auburn is an unknown going into this game. If you look at the players strictly from a recruiting viewpoint, or how they’ve performed in practice, Auburn has the makings of a young champion. But you can never fully trust recruiting hype and practice performances. Two things are clear. Rating recruits is as exact a science as rating football teams in polls, and many players have looked great in practice, only to be a bust on gameday.

One thing about this team is certain. They have as good a running back duo as any team in the country. The combination of Onterio McCalebb and Mike Dyer can be lethal for most defenses. Add in a scat back like Tre Mason, and bruising H-Back like Ladarious Phillips and most teams would be tempted to run the ball 75-80% of the time. With Coach Malzahn calling the shots of offense, I doubt we’ll see that in 2011.

After a long battle, Barrett Trotter has been tabbed to replace Cam Newton. Many people assume that losing Newton would spell doom for Auburn, when in actuality, Barrett Trotter is more of a fit for the Malzahn offense than Cam Newton was. I’m not suggesting Trotter is anywhere near the talent that Newton was, but he won’t be asked to be. Trotter’s main focus is on keeping mistakes to a minimum, which he has been very good at in practice, and getting the ball in the hands of the playmakers. These playmakers were here last year, but didn’t get that many opportunities because of Newton’s ability to make things happen.

Even though the Utah State game would be an excellent opportunity to give the Aggies a lethal dose of McCalebb-Dyer, I don’t see that happening. What I do see is opening the game with the run to soften up the defense, and then going to the air… a lot. Practices are great but they’re not the same as real game situations. As close as so many of Auburn’s games were in 2010, Trotter didn’t get much time to gain game experience, so this game will be critical for him before the Mississippi State game.

Auburn’s defense has also gotten an overhaul in 2011. Nick Fairley is the name most mentioned when talking about Auburn losses on the defense, but the talent level is much higher in 2011 than in 2010. Most of the new starters got plenty of playing time in 2010, and I think the defense will be better than last year.

Auburn is also implementing a nickel back into their defensive schemes. The biggest Achille’s Heel for Auburn’s defense in 2010 was giving up the big plays. Every team gives up an occasional big play, and I’d be fantasizing if I said Auburn won’t give up some big plays in 2011, especially with so many young players, but I think this will be an area that has been much improved on since 2010.

All in all, I feel good about this team, though I’m sure a lot of it has to do with my allegiance to the school, but most of it has to do with faith in this coaching staff, and the amount of talent they’ve ammssed since arriving in Auburn. If I’m making a prediction for this game, I’d say that Auburn starts out shaky in the first quarter and a half, and may even trail before halftime, but wins it going away in the second half. My fearless prognostication? Auburn 42 – Utah State 24

On offense in 2010, Auburn had firepower to go around. There was Darvin Adams making incredible catches, Onterio McCalebb taking it to the house from all over the field, Philip Lutzenkirchen making clutch catches for TDs, and an emerging star in Michael Dyer.

But no star shone brighter than Cam Newton in 2010. He had the ability to beat you any number of ways. He could throw over defenses that crowded the line to try and stop him from running, or run through defenses that tried to play him more honest.

He was also the most dependable 4th down converter in college football. Even when it was obvious who was going to get the carry on 4th and short, and what the play was going to be, opposing defenses found it very hard to stop him from getting his yardage. That talent will be behind center for the Carolina Panthers this Fall.

Even though Auburn has finally named Barrett Trotter as the starting quarterback for 2011, no one is expecting him to do everything that Cam Newton did for this team in 2010. Coach Gus Malzahn has proven year after year that he can get the most out of the position, but regardless of how good a body man you have working in your garage, you’re not going to make a Cadillac out of a Chevrolet.

What Auburn needs Trotter to do is not make mistakes, and get the ball to his playmakers.

Of all of his playmakers, which player will step up and be this year’s Cam Newton?

Most people are expecting Mike Dyer to be the star of the team, as he is the returning offensive player with the best numbers from last season, and the star that emerged in the BCS Championship game. It would be hard to argue their reasoning.

Though brought along slowly in 2010, Dyer seemed to peak in the bigger games. His four games rushing for over 100 yards were against LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Oregon. Perhaps the Oregon game, where he rushed for 143 yards was the performance that made the biggest statement.

The one area that he would need to work on to become the next Newton would be catching the football. After recording one catch in the opening game against Arkansas State, he didn’t have another reception the entire season.

Onterio McCalebb is another player that could become the offensive star of this team. Though he was mostly an outside threat in his previous two seasons at Auburn, he has added some muscle to his frame this year, and could bust it up the middle in 2011. With Gus Malzahn calling the plays, if he can prove capable of running inside, you can bet there will be plays designed for him to do that very thing.

McCalebb didn’t get the ball as much as Dyer last year, but when he did, he delivered. He had a 7.8 average yards per carry, and nine touchdowns, though he only had 95 carries. He also showed he could catch the football with 7 catches for a 12.3 yard per catch average and one touchdown. With his big play potential, look for McCalebb to be more involved in the offense than he was in 2010.

Auburn will also need that clutch reception potential that they lost with Darvin Adams. The one play that sticks out most to me from the 2010 season was his catch of the Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half of the SEC Championship game. He had his body in the perfect position, put his hands out to cradle the ball and his gaze was on nothing but the football.

Philip Lutzenkirchen also repeatedly demonstrated the concentration and ability to make big plays in 2010. Though not thrown to that often, he made the most of the catches that were thrown his way. From his tight end H-Back position, and with the loss af Adams, he should see a lot more balls coming his way in 2011. He definitely would be my favorite to be Auburn’s go-to receiver in 2011.

However, the most exciting offensive player on the team, and the one most likely to be the next offensive star for this team would have to be Trovon Reed.

Reed is another in a line of exceptional talents. Before Newton became his own Wildcat quarterback in 2010, Trovon Reed was seen as the most likely candidate for the position. I’m sure he’ll get some time behind center in 2011.

He is the best on the team in open space, with the ability to leave even the best defender clutching for air. Though lost for 2010 because of a knee injury, he is back at 100% for 2011, and the biggest question may be how many ways can you get the ball in his hands.

His only drawback at this time seems to be his downfield blocking.

Replacing Cam Newton is impossible, but if one guy has the talent and star power potential to come close, it is going to be Trovon Reed.